Book Clubs

It's always a bit intimidating to meet with a Book Club that has read your book. Last night I had just that experience. Upon arrival, I met with the woman who had invited me and she informed me that this was a church group. I immediately thought about my novel and whether or not I had painted church ladies in a positive light. I think I had been fair in my handling of religion. Although my main character, Maggie, was more Taoist, she did have an experience with a "higher power" that reflected positively on the christian view of God. After introductions, I talked about what it takes to get a novel written and published and how the cover design evolved. I told my Oprah story which involves a message from the beyond (I'll share this in another blog). The evening carried on with conversations running from marketing to what happened to the high school boyfriend - which of course could only be speculated on since he was a fictitious character. The lemon cake was divine (really) and the women kind. All-in-all an enjoyable evening. I will probably do this again in the future and I hope it will have a similar outcome. We writers are sensitive souls so please if you are asked to critique a book in the presence of the author, be kind. Remember, we are human and have risked a great deal to expose what we know of life through our characters. Even if the book is awful, find something kind to say - maybe you really liked the dedication or the author's bio in the back of the book. I'm guessing perfect strangers don't come to your office to critique your work - put yourself in their shoes and as my mother used to say (okay and probably someone famous) - 'if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". Well, okay, I recommend you find something to say, even if it's about the weather. Book critics will make sure your author knows his or her place in the echelon of writers.